Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Series 5052 Mic Pre/Inductor EQ

The Rupert Neve Designs Shelford 5052 is a vintage-style mic pre and 3-band EQ inspired by some of the most popular and timeless outboards.

The Rupert Neve Designs Shelford 5052 Mic preamp and EQ updates the classic designs to include many new features such as simultaneous pre / post tape operation, variable Silk/Texture control found on the Portico II series. The Shelford 5052 combines the best of his classic designs with the best components and modern performance.

The mic preamp of the Shelford 5052 delivers 72dB of discrete class-A gain, which is coupled with square-core transformers and features Rupert Neve's modern Silk / Silk Blue and Texture controls found on his Portico II series. This allows you to control your tonality further adding more flexibility by adding between 4-5% Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) mainly from the 2nd order but some 3rd order harmonics as well to deliver a richer, thicker sound. Without the Silk button engaged, the sound is a very modern pristine sound with Rupert's signature sound so revered throughout the world. Additional features of the mic preamp include Mic/Line selection, a sweepable 20-250Hz high-pass filter, 48V phantom power, and polarity reversal.

The Shelford 5052 uses a transformer-coupled output that can route the preamp's signal to tape or your DAW before reaching the EQ section while still using the Silk and Texture options. Alternatively, a compressor can be connected between the preamp and the EQ section or both pre and post EQ sources can be fed into the recording system. A "To EQ" button can be engaged to route the signal into the EQ as a regular channel strip would.

The 3-band EQ of the Shelford 5052 is reminiscent of its vintage legend, using the best of each of Rupert's Neves original designs. From the Low Frequency band based on the 1064 known for its creamy and resonant bass sound, to the mid and high bands based on the ultimate 1073, the Shelford 5052 is sure to become a modern classic. The 5052's homage to the classic designs of the past is only matched by many of the modern features such as a blending inductor circuitry which allows you to get a great vintage tone but with greater control, while a low-feedback class-A discrete electronics prevent low-level artefacts and harshness occurring when shaping your sound. Although referring to timeless classics, the Rupert Neve Designs Shelford 5052 uses modern components and techniques setting it apart from its predecessors and a powerful unit in its own right.

To power up the 5052 module, RND has provided two options, the RND 5-way brick supply and the RND 25-way 2U rack-mount supply. It can be mounted in RND's 2-way and 4-way vertical racks as well as the existing 9-way racks and 5088 penthouse.